Heat insulating materials



Marhdz *1940- Aw. F, sTLl-:Y 2,193,546

HEAT INSULATING NIAIERIALS Filed nec. s, 193s JUL UL JUL y@LWL-LWLIILIJI'I .1%lllg-'L- H l ll rlgllljEJ-TL.

Patented Mar. 12, 1940A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

, 2,193,546 HEAT INSULA'HNG MATERIALS William F. Astley, Cicero, Ill.,assignor to Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of-Illlnois Application December 3, 1938, Serial No. 248,729

\ v v 2 Claims.

Vheat insulating blankets of heat insulating units.

may be woven in a single operation so that such blankets may beconstructed with a minimum amount of labor and at a minimum cost.Another object of the invention is the provision of an improvedinsulating blanket of loose fiber units of asbestos and interla'cing orinterwoven fabric portions, which is durable, and can be cut at anypoint and will not unravel easily.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improvedinsulating blanket of asbestos or the like, in which the major -portionof the blanket consists of relatively loose'ber units of asbestos'bersand the interlacng or interwoven portions of the blanket are reduced toa minimum amount necessary for holding the blanket to-, gether andpreventing unraveling when the blanket has been cut to, desired shapes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawing, in which similarcharacters of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the severalviews.

' Referring to the single sheet of drawings,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of an insulatingblanket constructedv according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the plane of the line2-2 of. Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the plane of the line3-3 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows showing thestructure of a part of the'weave;

Fig. 4 is an edge elevational view of the blanket, showing the weavingat the edge of the blanket;` A

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view' in perspective of the insulating unitwhich forms the body of the blanket.'

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Fig'. 5, the presentblankets may be woven of various types of insulating units of asbestosand other mineral and vegetable bers. One form of insulating unit isshown in Fig. 5, and it comprises amultiplicity of strands ofeasbestosfibers, such as, for example, '21 strands, which are gathered togetherto form a bundle.

These strands, indicated by the numeral I0, are held together'in abundle Il by aplurality of spirally extending cotton threads I2, suchas, 'for example, lthree cotton threads. The same function may beperformed in some cases by a lesser number oi threads, and in someembodi- (Cl. 139-420i ments of the invention a single cotton orasbestos) thread. The threads are tightlyl twisted tension members whichare adapted to hold the hundles together and to, give the' bundleincreased ten-A sile strength, as the loose asbestos bers have a minimumof tensile strength when arranged in loose strands. l

The complete insulating unit is indicated by the numeral I3, and theseinsulating, units I3 serve as the warp members in the blanket, which isindicated by the numeral I. 'Ihe size of such insulating units and thenumber of strands in the bundle may be varied considerably, dependingupon the thickness of the' blanket desired, and the blanket may be wovenin'one or two or three or more layers of the type shown in Figs. 1-4,the respective layers being bound together by having certain warpthreads act as binders.

In addition to the insulating units for warp threads, the blanketpreferably includes other- Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and s, it wm Ybe'noted '1 by a plurality of woven portions of fabric, such as, forexample, the portion 26 at each edge,

lthe Woven fabric 21 above and the woven fabric portions 28 below inFigs. 1 and 2.

The specific form of weave may be varied considerably so that the fabricportions 26, 21, 28 may be of diierent appearance and characteristics,depending upon the conventional types of weave employed.

In the examples shown the weft thread 22 extends over the warp thread I5under the warp thread I6,I and over the warp thread I'I. The weft thread22 also extends over all of the insulating units I3, but it extends overthe Warp thread I8 and under the warp thread I9, and lwarp threads I8,I9 are so arranged between each of the insulating units I3.

The shuttle brings back the same thread, 'f

which reappears in the fabric as theweft thread 2|, which extends underthe -warp thread I5," over warp thread IG, and under warp thread I'I.-

Thexyweft thread 2I also extends over all of the insulating units I3,`but it extends under the Warp thread I8 and over the -warp thread I9.

At the sewage or @per edge (Fig. 1) the weft 60 thread 2l is bentbackward and re-appears as 'the weft thread 20 in the fabric portion 21at the top of the blanket, and this thread 20 vis arranged with respectto the other threads of the blanket in the same manner as described withrespect to the weft thread'ZZ.

The weft threads are, therefore, oppositely arranged with respect to theWarp ,threads which they engage. The weft threads 20-22 are above theinsulating units I3, While the weft threads 23-25 are below theinsulating units I3. The warp threads I8 and I9, as shown in Fig. 2,also extend from the top to the bottom of the blanket between therespective fabric portions 21 and 28, and thus the fabric portions 21above and 28 below the blanket tend to confine the loose bers intoblanket form and prevent their escape from the interlacing fabric ofthreads.

The blanket constructed according to the present invention may be wovenupon a loom in one operation, but the loom must be reconstructed orspecially constructed for the purpose of manufacturing this material,particularly in the fol lowing respects.

, The insulating units I3 are not of sufllcient tensile strength to behandled like ordinary threads, they cannot be permitted to chate againsteach other or against adjacent threads, and must be protected during theoperation of weaving in a special manner. They cannot ordi narily bewound on ordinary reels, and the insulating units are coiled loosely inbarrels. 'I'heir tensile strength is sufficient so they may be liftedfrom the barrels and fed by means of the feed rolls. As the insulatingunits I3 approach the' active part of the loom, they extend intometalguided, and protected between the reeds and above and below the shuttle.

Each insulating unit I3 passes through two tubes, which are pivotallysecured together so that they may be lifted at the pivotal point bymeans of suitable heddles to form the shed.

Furthermore, the ends of these tubes are also controlled by heddles, and`at the point where the insulating unit I3 enters the tube, the tube ispreferably provided with a tapered formation for smoothing out theinsulating unit and shaping it to the shape shown in Fig. 3.

' Another change that must be made in a loom to handle material of thistype is that the heddles must be suitably arranged to control theguiding tubes -for the insulating units I3, and the reed must be coarseenough and ,have spaces large enough to pass the tubes which guide the'insulating units I3. V)

The method of weaving the blanket consistsin drawing the insulatingunits from loose coils and guiding them during the process of weaving inprotective tubular members which are moved in the manner in which anordinary warpthread would be moved by means of heddles, during whichtime the weft threadsare interwoven with the warp threads, as described,by means of an ordinary shuttle.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved blanketconsisting of insulating units of large, loose, soft characteristics,preferably constructed of insulating material, such as asbestos fibers,in which the large, loose,1soft insulating units are conned betweeninterlacing portions-of fabric above and below and at the edges of theblanket.

The weave of the fabric is close and tight enough so that theblanketfwill not unravel when it is cuty at any ,particular point; yetthe major portion of the blanket is constructed of the loose, softinsulating units, which are bound close together and form a continuousblanket ofd substantially homogeneous characteristics.

Thev blanket may be'very economically manufactured because it may bewoven all in one operation on a suitably constructed loom, according tothe method described, and itis of high insulating value and adapted towithstand vibration and impact for a long period of time, without losingits insulating characteristics.- It is adapted to be `penetrated andshaped about ir. regularities or projecting parts with ease; but whenengaged on a fiat surface, maintains its homogeneous insulatingcharacteristics for a long period of time.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodi ment of my invention, manymodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes withinthe scopev of the appended claims.

Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In an insulating blanket the combination of a plurality of large,loose,l soft insulating members of asbestos fibers having spirally woundcords about said members, said members being the warp members of .thefabric with a plurality of groups of weft members comprisingtransversely extending cords arranged with groups alternately aboveandbelow said soft insulating members and a plurality of cords servingas auxiliary warp members located in groups betweenv said softinsulating members and interwoven with' 2. In an msunting banket thecombination of a plurality of large, loose, soft insulating members ofasbestos fibers having spirally wound cords about said members, saidmembers being the warp members of the fabric with a pluraity of groupsof weft members comprising transversely extending cords arranged withgroups alternately above and below said soft insulating members and aplurality of cords servingas auxiliary warp members located in groups`between said soft insulating members and interwoven with said cord weftmembers, said blanket also having at each edge a group of cord warpmembers interwoven with said cord weft members, whereby the blanket isprovided with a plurality of regularly spaced woven portions above andbelow said soft insulating members and at the outer edgesl of said softinsulating members to form awoven selvage and to bind said softinsulating memlbers together into a-unitary blanket, said softinsulating members comprising a multiplicity of strands of asbestosfibers and said cords having their major portion of bers formed ofasbestos.

WILLIAM F. ASTLEY.

